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| August 2, 2005 | Tuesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 25, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Muslim leaders, Saudis pray for Fahd at funeral RIYADH, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Muslim presidents and prime ministers joined ordinary Saudis to pray for the soul of King Fahd on Tuesday at a modest funeral in keeping with the kingdom's austere Islamic tradition. Fahd's body was carried into the huge Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque wrapped in a simple brown shroud for the last rites. He will be laid to rest in a simple, unmarked grave in a Riyadh cemetery. "His grave will be like the grave of all Muslims... There is no difference between him and other Muslims," said Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, the country's top cleric, who led the funeral prayers. Ordinary Saudis gathered at the funeral with leaders including Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf , Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Saudi King Fahd buried in Riyadh - live TV RIYADH, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Fahd was buried on Tuesday in a simple grave at a Riyadh cemetery, Saudi state television said. The television showed live images of pall bearers taking Fahd's body, which was wrapped in a brown shroud, into the graveyard. It said the body was lowered into the ground in an unmarked pit, in line with the kingdom's strict Islamic traditions.(Posted @ 18:38 PST)
Air France jet crash lands at Toronto airport TORONTO, Aug 2 (AFP) - An Air France passenger jet skidded off the end of the runway and burst into flames after landing in a thunder storm at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Tuesday, media reports said. There were up to 200 passengers on the jet on the Paris-Toronto flight, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and other media. Witnesses said the plane was cut in two and at least two fireballs were seen coming from the debris after the crash. The long haul A340 jet, which can carry up to 250 people, overshot the runway and crashed into trees and bushes in a gully that separates the airport perimeter from a busy highway. Thick flames and black smoke billowed from the jet and fire crews were at the scene but there were no immediate details on casualties. (Posted @ 02:36 PST)
Suicide bomber kills at least six people in Iraq MOSUL, Iraq, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a police vehicle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing at least five policemen and one child, hospital and police sources said. The attack at a police checkpoint on a road leading south from Mosul to Baghdad also wounded eight people, including two policemen, the sources said. Suicide bombers, mostly Arab Muslim militants, have killed hundreds of Iraqi police and security forces in a bid to topple the U.S.-backed government.(Posted @ 23:35 PST)
Two aid workers missing in western Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 2 (AFP) - Two Afghan employees of a non-governmental humanitarian group have gone missing while taking monthly wages to colleagues in western Afghanistan, an official said on Tuesday. The pair, who work for the UN-registered Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA), have been missing for three days after their vehicle was separated from the other vehicle in their convoy travelling to Farah province. "Two Afghan workers of CHA organization went missing in surrounding of Gulistan district of Farah province three days ago," provincial governor Azatullah Wasifi told AFP on Tuesday "They made two mistakes, they had not informed us of their trip and they did not take the security guards they are provided by the government," the governor said.(Posted @ 23:25 PST)
Floods, landslide kill 5 people in Turkey ISTANBUL, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Five people were killed and four others were missing in northeast Turkey on Tuesday after heavy rainfall unleashed landslides and flooding, news reports said. A mother and her two children were buried alive after a landslide flattened the house where they were staying in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, the state-run Anatolian news agency said. A 56-year-old woman drowned in neighbouring Rize province after being swept away by a stream that broke its banks, the agency said. One person was killed and four others were missing in Trabzon after their village was flooded, private television channel NTV said. Housing Minister Faruk Ozak was quoted by NTV as saying several people remained stranded. Several homes and businesses were destroyed, bridges washed away and major roads closed. Experts blame erosion for the devastating floods that regularly strike Turkey's Black Sea provinces and other areas. In July 2002, more 30 people died in Rize after powerful rainstorms battered the mountainous province.(Posted @ 23:18 PST)
Government allows Indian sugar import Islamabad, Aug 2 PPI: The government has allowed import of sugar from India to augment supply and stabilize its price in the country. The decision was taken at Economic Coordination Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz Tuesday in Islamabad. Advisor on Economic Affairs Dr. Ashfaq Hassan Khan later told newsmen that importers have been allowed to opt any route for sugar import from India. He said Trading Corporation of Pakistan will also import one hundred thousand tons of sugar to maintain buffer stocks and ensure stability of prices in the market. (Posted @ 22:20 PST)
One militant killed, 18 combatants wounded in east Afghanistan violence JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Aug 2 (AFP) - Fighting between Afghan insurgents and security forces and a bomb blast left one militant dead and 18 combatants wounded in the country's east, an Afghan military official said Tuesday. Militants first attacked Afghan border police on Monday night in a Nuristan province clash that left one insurgent dead and four police and seven rebels wounded. Afghan troops and police from neighbouring Kunar province were then called in to join the fighting in Nuristan's Kamdesh district, about 220 kilometres (140 miles) east of Kabul. But when the reinforcement troops and officers returned to Kunar after the battle their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, leaving three police and four soldiers wounded, a spokesman said .(Posted @ 20:30 PST)
Maoists abduct over 300 students in far western Nepal KATHMANDU, Aug 2 (AFP)- Maoist rebels in Nepal have abducted more than 300 students from two far western districts in the last two days, police said Tuesday."A group of armed Maoists came to Binayak village in Achham district on Monday and forced 215 students to follow them to an undisclosed destination," police said. "On Monday, they abducted another over 100 students from Darling village in Baglung district." Police did not know where the students have been taken .(Posted @ 20:27 PST)
Four Pakistani soldiers wounded in roadside blast in western tribal area MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 2 (AFP) - At least four Pakistani soldiers were wounded Tuesday when a remote-controlled bomb hit their vehicle in Naridog area, some 10 kilometres (six miles) north of Miranshah near the Afghan border, an army officer said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Last week, an army officer was injured when a remote-controlled bomb hit his patrol convoy in the same area, where Pakistan has deployed more than 70,000 troops to hunt down Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked insurgents.(Posted @ 20:23 PST)
Suspected militants kill four in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Aug 2 (AFP) - Suspected militants killed four people in occupied Kashmir, police said Tuesday. Three persons were gunned down in separate attacks Monday night and early Tuesday in the districts of Pulwama, Poonch and Doda, a spokesman said adding that reason for the killings was not known and no group has claimed responsibility .Police claimed a guerrilla leader of Hizbul Mujahedin died Tuesday in an internecine clash.(Posted @ 20:18 PST)
At least 23 killed in Iraq attacks as MPs discuss constitution BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (APP/AFP) - At least 23 people were killed in rebel attacks across Iraq Tuesday as members of parliament discussed issues delaying the completion of the war-torn country's new constitution. A powerful blast shook central Baghdad when a suicide car bomber blew himself up close to a US military convoy, killing four people and wounding 23 others, including four women, medics said. One US humvee was set ablaze and 14 other vehicles were damaged by the blast. There were no immediate reports of US casualties.In separate attacks, gunmen opened fire on a group of people leaving a city hospital. Five people were killed . Iraqi police Colonel Mizher Hamad Yussef died in a drive-by shooting, and two employees of the finance ministry were shot dead on their way to work in Baghdad, an interior ministry official said. In another incident, a civilian was killed and five wounded, four of them policemen, when a suicide car bomber attacked a police patrol in the centre of Baquba, police said. Four Iraqi soliders were killed when a bomb hidden inside a dead dog hit an army patrol in Balad town. Five soldiers were also wounded. Three other people working at a US base in the northern town of Baiji were killed when the bus they were travelling in was ambushed by armed gunmen, while a construction worker was shot dead, also in Baiji. An engineer was gunned down in Dhuluiyah, while a man was killed in a Baghdad bookshop when a bomb reportedly hidden in a suitcase blew up, witnesses said. The body of an Iraqi soldier was found in Samarra, while that of a policeman was found in Al-Dawr, 150 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad.(Posted @ 20:08 PST)
Afghan refugees to be repatriated, relocated ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (APP): The government has decided to shift Afghan refugees living near to Rawalpindi and Islamabad to their homeland through voluntary repatriation or relocate their camps in Pakistan. According to a press release issued here Tuesday by the Ministry of Interior Ministry, this decision of repatriation or relocation of Afghan refugees has been made due to security reasons.(Posted @ 19:58 PST)
Taliban say three beaheaded for "spying" KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents beheaded three Afghans in Ghazni province on Tuesday after accusing them of spying for U.S. forces, a Taliban spokesman said. Officials were not immediately available for comment.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Six U.S. Marines killed BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Six U.S. Marines were killed on Monday near Haditha, a town on the Euphrates river 200 km (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman, said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if they were killed in a single attack or if they died in a clashes with insurgents.(Posted @ 19:18 PST)
Pakistan's hardline Islamic opposition leader refused entry to UAE PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 2 (AFP) –Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of Pakistan's Opposition Mutehda Majlis-i- Amal (MMA) returned here Tuesday, saying he had been denied entry to Dubai and told he had been blacklisted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "I will bring a privilege motion in the National Assembly and lodge a formal protest against the UAE government's attitude," he said. He said he was initially granted a UAE visa, which he showed to reporters in Peshawar, but that UAE officials later revoked it and told him he had been "blacklisted" from entering Dubai. He called on the government to ask UAE why an "important personality of Pakistan was treated so badly".(Posted @ 19:05 PST)
North Korea says no progress in nuclear talks but commits to another day BEIJING, Aug 2 (AFP) - North Korea said Tuesday no progress had been made in talks over the dismantlement of its nuclear weapons programs after more than a week of negotiations, but committed to another day of meetings. "The talks lasted for long hours but produced no progress," the North's top envoy to the six-party talks Kim Kye-gwan told reporters. Japan's chief delegate Kenichiro Sasae characterised Tuesday's meetings as "extremely tough, fierce and serious".(Posted @ 18:43 PST)
Cricket-Atapattu, Sangakkara guide Lanka to challenging total DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Marvan Atapattu (70)and Kumar Sangakkara (79) guided Sri Lanka to 241-6 against West Indies in the third match of the triangular series on Tuesday. They dominated the innings with a 138-run partnership for the second wicket after Sri Lanka had elected to bat first on a slow Dambulla pitch.(Posted @ 18:33 PST)
Two blasts hit southern Turkish resort city-reports ISTANBUL, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Two explosions tore through rubbish bins and wounded six people on Tuesday in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, a popular tourist resort, news reports said.It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts, which occurred within minutes of each other in the bins in separate locations in central Antalya, Turkey's fourth-largest city, the state-run Anatolian news agency said. Three cleaners were slightly wounded while emptying the first bin. In the second blast, another three people, including one tourist whose nationality was not known, were wounded, Anatolian said, quoting police sources.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Judge in key dissident case shot dead in Tehran TEHRAN, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A gunman on a motorcycle shot dead the judge trying the case of Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji, judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimirad said on Tuesday. "Massoud Moghaddas ... was shot and martyred leaving the court building," he told Reuters.(Posted @ 18:23 PST)
Pakistan's NWFP defends challenge against 'Taliban-style' Hasba bill ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (AFP) - Lawyers for Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on Tuesday defended a plan to introduce what opponents call Taliban-style moral policing against a federal government challenge. On Tuesday, the second day of hearings, NWFP lawyer Khalid Anwer told the Supreme Court "this bill seeks to establish an institution of accountability to protect various sectors of society -- including women, minorities and children -- and curb social evils." "He (the mohtasib) will receive complaints from the general public against government agencies and would go to offices asking them what they have done to redress them," he told the nine-judge panel in the capital Islamabad. "This law seeks to appoint a person who tries to have existing laws enforced," he added. Earlier Tuesday, Attorney General Makhdoom Ali called the bill, passed by the NWFP assembly in mid-July, "arbitrary, vague and unconstitutional".(Posted @ 17:06 PST)
Rains paralyse daily life in Hyderabad HYDERABAD, Aug 2 (APP)- The hours long torrential rains that hit Hyderabad and its vicinity on Tuesday noon exposed limitations and ineffectiveness of all precautionary measures that were assured by the authorities five days back. Torrential rain started at 12 noon and continued for about one hour. The local met office recorded 17 millimeter rainfall in Hyderabad city and 9.4 millimeter at Hyderabad Airport. Low lying areas of Hyderabad and many units of Latifabad and Qasimabad were inundated and power supply was not restored in many areas even after several hours.(Posted @ 17:03 PST)
Only 22 percent of Russians support war to prevent Chechen independence poll MOSCOW, Aug 2 (APP/AFP) - Just 22 percent of Russians support the war against Chechen separatists and a less than a third think that the Kremlin will manage to end the conflict soon, according to polls published Tuesday in the Izvestia newspaper. A poll by the Levada Centre found that 22 percent backed any method, including war, to prevent Chechnya leaving Russia. However, 24 percent said they would be happy to see Chechnya go its own way, 17 percent did not care much, and 15 percent said were ready to overcome initial opposition to such a move. Another 13 percent believed Chechnya was already outside of Russia. A poll by the more pro-Kremlin Public Opinion Foundation, also published in Izvestia, found little optimism over chances for peace in the tiny, mostly Muslim region of the mountainous North Caucasus. Only 28 percent thought peace could be achieved in the near future, while 51 percent said it could not.(Posted @ 16:38 PST)
President arrives in Riyadh to attend King Fahd's funeral RIYADH, Aug 2 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf arrived here Tuesday afternoon to represent Pakistan at the funeral of Khadim Harmain Sharifain King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz. He joins a number of leaders from the Muslim countries, who are gathering in the Saudi capital to pay their last respects to the late King, who contributed significantly to international peace and harmony in the turbulent times facing the world. PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri and Senator Maulana Sami ul Haq are accompanying the President. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
India in state of panic after naval war plan stolen ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (APP): India is in state of panic after naval war plan was stolen. The Indian newspapers Bhaskar and Times of India have printed a report that a war plan of the Navy has been stolen due to which the South Block is in a state of panic, BBC reported. An investigation committee has also been set up. Times of India has written that the main problem is the threat to security because this extremely secret information was in a computer, the password of which was fully protected. (Posted @ 16:13 PST)
Iran says will resume nuclear work within two days TEHRAN, Aug 2 (Reuters) Iran will resume converting uranium ore to gas at a nuclear plant near the central city of Isfahan within two days, the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation told state television on Tuesday. "The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will finish the installation of surveillance equipment in the next 24 hours and we will restart the plant's activities in the next one or two days," Mohammad Saeedi said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
China launches satellite BEIJING, Aug 2 (AFP) Emerging space power China on Tuesday launched a scientific and technical satellite from a remote northwestern desert region, state media reported. Xinhua said China would use the satellite to carry out land surveying, mapping and other experiments. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
NASA improvises plan for delicate shuttle repair HOUSTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) The Discovery crew on Tuesday worked out plans for an impromptu repair job that will send spacewalking astronaut Steve Robinson underneath the shuttle to work on its fragile belly for the first time in space history. Working to ensure a safe return to Earth next week, the astronauts pored over instructions sent up from NASA engineers and began piecing together a makeshift hacksaw that Robinson may use in his task on Wednesday. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
Saddam lawyer boycotts tribunal over court scuffle BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (Reuters) Saddam Hussein's chief attorney said on Tuesday his legal team was boycotting proceedings until a man they say attacked the former Iraqi president at a hearing is brought to justice and the court apologises. U.S. forces guarding Saddam denied any such attack took place. (Posted @ 14:15PST)
Death toll from Khartoum riots rises to 42 KHARTOUM, Aug 2 (Reuters) The number of people killed during Monday's riots in Khartoum after the death of former southern rebel leader and First Vice-President John Garang has risen to 42, a security official said on Tuesday, adding that more than 100 people were still in hospital with injuries from the rioting. (Posted @ 12:54 PST)
Bomb explodes outside BA, BP offices in Iran TEHRAN, Aug 2 (Reuters) A small bomb exploded outside the offices of British Airways and DaimlerChrysler in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday, but there were no casualties, witnesses said. Iran's Interior Ministry said they had sent bomb disposal teams to the building and were investigating. (Posted @ 12:50PST)
China, Russia to hold joint war games in August BEIJING, Aug 2 (Reuters) More than 100,000 troops from Russia and China will participate in the first joint military exercises, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005", between the two countries scheduled for August 18-25, the Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday. (Posted @ 11:03 PST)
Three killed in drive-by shootings in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (AFP) An Iraqi police colonel died in a drive-by shooting, and two employees of the finance ministry were killed in a second attack in Baghdad Tuesday morning, an interior ministry official said. In both cases the gunmen escaped. (Posted @ 11:02 PST)
U.S.-led troops in Iraq part of problem-UK's Straw LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) The presence of British and U.S. troops in Iraq is fuelling the Sunni-led insurgency which has killed hundreds of people, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in comments published on Tuesday. In an interview with Britain's Financial Times newspaper, Straw said it was crucial Iraq's draft constitution was ready by a mid-August deadline to pave the way for a troop withdrawal. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 129.81 points: KARACHI, August 2: At close of tradiing, the KSE-100 index was at 7325.13, up 129.81 points from Monday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:35 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, August 2: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:35 PST)
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